Massive Explosion at Police Station in Kashmir, 9 Killed

Darwin, 15 November –

At least nine people have been killed and 27 others injured in a massive explosion at the Nowgam police station in Srinagar, in India-administered Jammu and Kashmir. According to news agency PTI, the incident occurred around midnight on Friday.

Reuters reported that the blast was caused by explosives that had been seized and stored at the police station.

Among the injured, the condition of five is said to be critical, so the death toll may rise. Most of those killed were police personnel and members of the forensic team. The explosion occurred while they were examining the seized explosives.

Two officials from the Srinagar administration are also among the dead.

The injured have been admitted to the Army’s 92 Base Hospital and the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences. After the explosion, senior police officials rushed to the scene, and the entire area was cordoned off.

According to Indian media reports, police personnel at the Nowgam station had recently been investigating an incident in which posters of the armed group Jaish-e-Mohammad were put up in the area. Based on those posters, a large consignment of explosives was seized, and several individuals, including some medical professionals, were arrested.

Among those arrested is a doctor named Adil Ahmed Rather, who was detained last October. He had been putting up posters that threatened major attacks on security forces and outsiders in Kashmir. Following his arrest, security forces uncovered a network that was believed to be linked to a suicide attack in Delhi, according to sources involved in the investigation.